Willow Tree Asylum

“An aroma beseeched my nightmare, I could smell something from beyond my realm of thought… wait… you cant use your senses when you’re dead; I told myself abruptly. I could feel a warm cloth stretched across my body, I could taste the saltiness in the air around me. Why was I coming back? I felt my arm twitch, and my leg shiver. “Please no!” I yelled in my head, “Just let me go, please!” Reality was seeping through my hope of the afterlife, I felt helpless.

   “The aroma became more potent as my body began shuffling; I could also hear a faint tap across my ear of something coming closer to whatever I was on. I tried opening one eye, but it wouldn’t budge. Maybe it was that annoying melody again… no. I did my best to force open my eye once again but it was futile. I needed a boost, probably a sudden shock.”

   “The sound stopped, I shrunk in fear; waiting for something to happen then a voice spoke,

“I have noticed you are awake, so please get up for Celestia’s sake.”

My eyes opened automatically and I lifted my torso to pull myself up, while doing this a sharp pain caressed my stomach and I immediately fell back again.

“Please Do not move, Pain still does hurt you.”

“I had regained control over my eyes, and I peaked through to get a glimpse of what or who was talking. It was a zebra?!! She wore strips of ash and pearl across her body and her mane. She also had a certain symbol on her backside along with golden rings constricting her leg and neck. But her eyes shimmered through the gray ash to release a sparkling teal. I could tell that we made eye contact and that this was the first time she had seen me awake.

“Where am I?”  I asked speaking with weakness. She stared at me for a very long time until answering.

“The Everfree forest is where you are now, if you want more ponies head into town.”

I gave her a suggestive look “ Town? How can you talk? Who are you? And Please tell me you aren’t rhyming like that on purpose.”

A silence grew, until she kneeled beside me and gave a sturdy look.”

    “You are not from here I could tell, I gave you a magic potion which granted you a spell.”

   “What do you mean?” I answered softly.

   “She did not say anything, but instead pointed to a mirror that stood upright against a wall; I stood, but felt awkwardly smaller, and wobbly. As I got closer, I noticed my hair in a spiky formation; with colors of obsidian and dark teal. The mirrors reflection caught my face now and one thing that had not changed were my eyes; the sparkling green emeralds made my face shine from the dark gray surrounding my face with darkness. Now my whole body could be revealed… I was a pony.”

    “WHAT THE HELL AM I?” I shouted.

    “Normal is what you are, also look at your wings they can fly you pretty far.”

     Sure enough she was right once again, I turned to my side to glance at my bandaged, folded wings.

   “I’m a Pegasus… A PEGASUS!” before I could say anything else, she grabbed my wobbly hoof and tripped me on purpose.

   “Balance you must learn; then comes freedom you will earn.” She spoke with professionalism and pride as if I was the student and she was the sensei.

“I lazily stepped to my hooves once again. Walk, I told myself; the first steps I took were terrible as if I was constipated or something of that manner, but shortly after I had gotten the hang of things really quickly to her surprise; my teachers always told me I was a quick learner.”

    “You’ve taken the first step how proud you must be. Now lets unravel your wings and then we shall see.”

     “I quickly took off the bandages wrapped around my waist and let them drop to the floor, my wings felt a cool breeze seep through the ruffled feathers. I opened them slowly and saw that one of my feathers had a deep red stain.”

“Now flap them so I can see, if you are ready to face Ponyville without me.” I tried my hardest to get a flap, but I did not know which way my wings could maneuver; so they did not move one inch.”

    “It seems you’re not ready I gave a good look, instead of trying hard just read this book.” She dumped a gigantic book on the ground, it hit with a loud thump and made my hooves lose balance and fall once more.

   “ Obscure Pegasus History For Dummies.” I read aloud.

  “I was offended by this insult, did she think I was stupid. I asked for another book but it was the only Pegasus book she owned, so I opened the first page and read to myself.”

“ Hours passed and about halfway throughout the book I shifted my eye to stare at that zebra.”

    “Hey, what’s your name?” I questioned.

“My name is Zecora, I’m from beyond this land and my journey stretches far and wide as the way it was planned?”

“Oh,” I said “ Well, what do you think would be a good name for me?”

  She stared at my behind for some reason it felt quite awkward.

“To discover your name we first need a mark, but we will save that for tomorrow now it is dark.”

    “I noticed that she had her own mark, it was a symbol of the sun I guessed, then I took a quick look at mine; blank.”

    “How do I get my mark?” I asked with curiosity.

“She turned her head slightly, “To receive a mark on your behind, you must perfect a talent to make it shine.”

     “That was just the thing; I didn’t have any talents. My whole life I was wondering how I could make a difference in people with something that I was good at. But I could never reach my talent and I did not know where to start. This whole transforming into a pony was a clean slate; I could start over fresh. But how I got here and how I could find a talent was a mystery.”

    “I kept my eyes glued onto the pages of my book but my mind seemed to wander into deep thought. Why and how? That’s what I want to know. Why did I end up here? And how did I end up here? It seemed so fake, I couldn’t believe in ponies until I turned into one. Maybe this is a different universe; I don’t know.”

   “Dinner is cooked, you can stop reading the book.” She announced from across the room.”

“I stood to my hooves, “Boy I’m starved…” she held out the plate to my hoof and I took it without a moments hesitation. When I looked down I just saw flowers and grass.”

      I acted with courtesy “this is a nice decoration; but where’s the food?”

    She looked at me with surprise “This is the food that I made for you, it’s a special recipe of blue.”

     “I looked to my plate and saw the wildflowers show off their elegant blue. “I’m supposed to eat flowers? Where’s the me-.” It had become clear to me that I was an herbivore; not an omnivore. I could not eat meat.”

       “It wasn’t a problem for me, I was already a pretty strong vegetarian. But I had just never eaten flowers right off the branch, so I was still concerned about the taste.”

  “I put my mouth to the plate and ate a flower and it was great! I don’t know if my taste buds changed at all when I transformed but it was amazing, soon enough I was licking my plate clean.”